IOWA
Population (1994): 2,829,000 (up 1.9% from 1990), 1.1% of U.S. total
Voting-age population: 2,112,000; 1994 turnout, 47%
Median age: 34 years
Median household income: $33,079 ($815 above U.S. median)
Unemployment: 3.3% (2.3% below U.S. average, March 1996)
Last presidential election: Clinton (D): 43% Bush (R): 37% Perot (I): 19%
Congressional delegation: One Democrat, six Republicans
The celebration of Iowa's 150th year as a state has been made sweeter by an economic recovery that has given it one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. After its 1980s slump, Iowa lost one of its congressional seats--the five it now claims are the state's smallest delegation since the 1850s. A politically conservative state, it is perhaps no coincidence that John Wayne was born in Iowa and Ronald Reagan once broadcast from there. And its overwhelmingly Republican delegation in Congress could become more so if Jim Lightfoot can unseat native Hawkeye and lone Democratic Congressman Tom Harkin.
TOM HARKIN (D) JUNIOR SENATOR
BORN: Nov. 19, 1939, Cumming EDUCATION: Iowa State U, B.S., 1962; Catholic U, J.D., 1972 FAMILY: Wife, Ruth; two children RELIGION: Roman Catholic MILITARY: Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74 OCCUPATION: Lawyer POLITICAL CAREER: U.S. House, 1975-84; sought Democratic nomination for President, 1992; U.S. Senate 1985- ADDRESS: P.O. Box 811, Des Moines 50304. Tel.: 515-244-1996
Harkin is the only Democratic member of Congress from Iowa and the only Iowa Democrat ever re-elected to the Senate. But he doesn't take his incumbency for granted--he left his party's convention early to campaign in his home state--and in the Senate he's active on four committees. Having shaken the most radical of his liberal urges, Harkin was a co-author of the first bipartisan welfare-reform bill in Congress. But in a state with the largest percentage of citizens over age 85, and the third largest over 65, he promises to protect Medicare.
THE ISSUES
Budget NO Medicare YES Defense NO Abortion YES Guns YES Gays YES Bosnia NO NAFTA YES Welfare NO National Service YES (For an explanation of these issues, see the front of this guide.)
QUOTE OF NOTE: "The President's signature does not mark the end of welfare reform, but the beginning."
JIM LIGHTFOOT (R) SENATE CHALLENGER
BORN: Sept. 27, 1938, Sioux City EDUCATION: U of Iowa; U of Tulsa FAMILY: Wife, Nancy; four children RELIGION: Roman Catholic MILITARY: Army, 1955-56; Army Reserve, 1956-63 OCCUPATION: Radio broadcaster; store owner; police officer; farmer POLITICAL CAREER: Corsicana, Texas, city commission, 1974-76; U.S. House, 1984- ADDRESS: 2711 Grand Avenue, Des Moines 50312. Tel.: 515-282-9696
Lightfoot won Tom Harkin's House seat when Harkin decided to run for the Senate; now he's pursuing a less decorous method of replacing Harkin. Lightfoot would bring a long record of conservative voting with him. He opposed the ban on assault weapons and drafted an amendment to limit firearms recordkeeping. He favors more defense spending and--perhaps because he began life in an orphanage--is staunchly antiabortion.
THE ISSUES